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Hi All,Here's my info: december 2005, tcells 280, 18% & undectable, march 2006, tcells 309, 18% undectable, june 2006 tcells 250, 24% undectable. I am on truvada & kaletra. My dr. says no reason to cry, I am doing fine, but, I still criedin the office because of the decline of over 50 tcells. Any long term folks that can share their input. I can use a boost here. I was diagnosed 8/2004. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

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Diagnosed, Monday, 8/9/2004, 1ST year was ruff , now I am well adjusted .Current Med's ; Kaletra & TruvadaUndetecable,<48 , 531 tcells, 21%Keeping the faith, that they will get a cure in our lifetime.LIVE , LOVE , LAUGH

You are indeed doing great, you are undetectale and your cd4% has gone from 18% to 24% that's just awesome. Don't worry about your cd4 absolute, that will continue to jump up and down like a yoyo. You really are doing well, be happy with your % and your meds are keeping your virus at bay. I wish my % was as good as yours!

I don't think you have anything to worry about, although your count has dropped by 50 your % has gone up and that is good news, that means your immune system is working..please try not to stress out...trust me this is good news.

Brooklyn I really wouldnt worry about those results in fact you should be pleased with them. My doctor told me the CD4% is a much better indication of how well your are doing also you need to allow for a large margain of error in the CD4 count. I should know my CD4 count dropped by 200 in the space of a month and them rebounded again a few months later. I'd try not to worry you sound like your doing well to me.

Your CD4 can fluctuate 50 points and more during the course of one day. The CD4% however, is much more stable. For this reason, the six point increase of your percentage is MUCH more significant that your 50 point drop in your (absolute) CD4. That's cause for celebration, not tears!

Just to illustrate, in my own case my CD4s have fluctuated up and down for the whole time I've been monitored. (five years) They've been as low as 230 something and as high as 787 - but my CD4% has pretty much always been between 27 and 29%. As long as my CD4% stays in that range, I don't sweat the absolute CD4 count.

For a better understanding, please read through the Lesson on T-cells. T-cell is another way of saying CD4.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I am just going to agree with the others . Your percentages have been going up and thats a good thing. CD-4's will bounce around. Take a look at my numbers at the end of my post, and you can also see, how mine have made drops and increases. Of course, that is just my numbers, but you can see how numbers can bounce around. And, on top of that you remain undetectable, so that is also GREAT !

Brooklyn, please listen to Ann and the others. They are wise. A CD4 count can fluctuate so much that it's only the barest reference as regards to your immunological health.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

I think that many people (myself included) put too much emphasis on Cd4 counts. I guess in the HIV world it is considered a benchmark. While I am awaiting my last set of labs, I have not yet reached the 200 mark and it has been pissing me off. I really, really want to get off the bactrim, and to do that, I must be consistently over 200. from my last labs I went from 12% to 17% and VL undetectable. so I have to be happy about that.

Its always depressing when cd4s go down, and it always gives you a little satisfaction when they go up. I have been testing since 89 when I was at 300, and I have bounced around between 250 and 450 for 17 years. I have never been sick from hiv,only the drugs. I think it was Joe who said yesterday something like 'its how you feel that is most important" and I think that is true.Anyways, that was yesterday, and it is over, its a new day, forget about it and get pumped up for a great day.

My doctor told me that CD4e coujnt was the least of my concerns. That viral progression was best determined by VL - and that overall immune system functionality was best indicated by the percentages.

But the overriding thing was - how do I feel?

I submit that stress over numbers can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It can make you sick. Please, I urge you to reread the LESSONS section here for the newly infected. SO MUCH has changed since the 1980s, then the ONLY thing we had to go by was the CD4 count.

Much information has been updated, and much has been discarded insofar as HIV disease is concerned.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

OK, you asked for "long termers" to respond, and many have. I will now post my numbers over the last 12 years or so. They are just posted randomly from memory, so take them for what my mind remembers. (not much)

Gee, I have never placed these numbers here, so it is going to be a surprise for more than one member of the forum.

I don't know whether or not this helps, but it does point out the things that the others have said. The percentage is one of the biggest reasons that I worry when I see blips in my vl, like I am currently struggling with.

In Love.

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The Bible contains 6 admonishments to homosexuals,and 362 to heterosexuals.This doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals, It's just that they need more supervision.Lynn Lavne

Hello,It is hard, especially in the beginning of all of this, to not let the numbers control how you perceive your health. Numbers and just numbers. Yes, it is a guideline that is used to measure how the meds are doing, but there are many factors to your health. Free of any OI's, your overall physical and mental well being, your energy level, your fitness level, your emotional level.

It is not abnormal to have a blip in your counts. One drop in numbers is not usually considered a problem. It is a gradual decline over a period of many months, a decline in the %, which could indicate resistance. Then at that point, you and your doctor might have to consider changing meds.

Don't worry, your numbers are good. Try to remind yourself to view your over all health- including stress levels, not just the test numbers.Christine

Your percentage seems very good. Compared to mine, it’s much stronger. Another thing, when you have your blood draws done you should do them at the same time of day each draw. i.e. 10 am. before lunch.

John, I’m not sure if I’m correct in this, but I know that I was taking Dapsone. I think it was instead of Bactrim. With no adverse side affects . I’d suggest you ask your doctor if you could change to Dapsone.

I want to thank each & everyone who has responded to me. Your acts of kindness mean the world to me. We are one big family & for someone like myself, again, that means the world to me. I feel better today, after reading all of the replies & calming myself down.THANK YOU ALL !!

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Diagnosed, Monday, 8/9/2004, 1ST year was ruff , now I am well adjusted .Current Med's ; Kaletra & TruvadaUndetecable,<48 , 531 tcells, 21%Keeping the faith, that they will get a cure in our lifetime.LIVE , LOVE , LAUGH

Hey Brooklyn,The numerous comments you have gotten are spot on. Your percentage is climbing and that is great!

Don't let the numbers spook you. My CD4s yo-yo like Bush's ratings. Sometimes I will drop hundreds between tests. What counts is your percentage is growing and your viral load is undetectable, which means the meds are working.

Don't worry. No good comes from it. I was diagnosed a few years ago, (I'm not into time), with a CD4 count of 12, and a viral load of 750,000+. I take My Meds and now my viral load is undectable. My CD4 has never gone above a hundred, but I'm still alive and kickin.